Her Feelings Are Irrational

Carson says his wife wants to start a Roth IRA at her bank instead of an investment broker. She's nervous because she doesn't know how the investors are and doesn't feel comfortable with it.

QUESTION: Carson in San Diego says his wife wants to start a Roth IRA at her bank instead of an investment broker. She’s nervous because she doesn’t know how the investors are and doesn’t feel comfortable with it. Dave thinks his wife’s feelings on this subject are irrational.

ANSWER: I don’t understand why a broker that sells mutual funds can’t know what you have but the bank can know. Why does that make sense? I don’t know who the people at the bank are either, do you?

It’s not honoring her wishes if there’s not logic behind them—if you can’t walk through this. Going along with your wife’s feelings when she has a feeling about someone’s character or about an overall situation or something… It’s not tolerating her unwillingness to face basic facts. That’s a different thing. I’m more than willing to push back on your wife.

No, I would not have an IRA at the bank. It’s a horrible rate of return if you put it in a bank savings account, and you don’t want to use a banker to help you pick your mutual funds. It’s not the business that they’re in. I would sit down with someone in the mutual fund business who has the heart of a teacher and can walk you through picking that, whether it’s one of our ELPs or not. That doesn’t matter.

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